What's your "ideal" finsh chute arrangement? (Read 807 times)

Last weekend I volunteered at our local marathon - passing out finisher's medals for the most part. Being a runner myself I was able to tell the other volunteers some do's (hold out the medals so you can put them around the runner's neck if they want, or they can just take them from you if they prefer to do that) and don'ts (don't make the runners stop unnecessarily - they need to keep moving to cool down effectively). However, I know different runners have different preferences, so I'm wondering what everyone here likes in the finish-line environment. What layout works best for you (chip removal first, then medals, then blankets/water, or something else? distance to post-race food? "early exits" from the finish chute?)? What do you expect/desire from the volunteers (greetings and/or congratulations vs staying quiet? medals draped vs. handed over?)? Family/friend access to finish line vs. separated meet-up area? Other ideas?

Beer? I dunno. I'm pretty low maintenance after a race. Whatever works for the volunteers is usually good with me. Just don't get too in my face and I'm good.

Beer? I dunno. I'm pretty low maintenance after a race. Whatever works for the volunteers is usually good with me. Just don't get too in my face and I'm good.

Yeah...that's about right. I will say that I like Milwaukee's finish area SO much more than Grand Rapids. GR is crowded, ugly, a parking lot...tough to find family if one is a runner and tough to find runners if one is family or a friend. Milwaukee is a BIG, flat, grassy area right on Lake MI. Definitely had a festival atmosphere...and awesome, HUGE cups of micro-brewed beer. I don't even remember anyone removing my chip, so apparently they did so without being noticeable--guess that's a positive. They also had bleachers at the finish-line, so spectators could get a good view. The Grand Rapids Riverbank Run 25k is a nice race, but finishes right in the middle of cramped downtown, so runners usually have a bit of a hike back to cars and it's a bitch to find people afterwards. I never was able to meet up with Rick Velich thanks to that mess. Plus their beer tent is nasty ass Michelob Ultra...I think carbonated urine would probably taste better.

Racing to the finish line at the Snicker's HM this spring in Albany, GA I heard my name called over the PA system and there was some really awesome music playing too. After the finish line, the finisher's medal was placed around my neck, the chip cut from my shoe, a mylar blanket put around me - and the nearby medical tent, food tent, and beer tent were pointed out to me. I was also asked if I was okay. Pretty good TLC.

fresh tape or wire.

Heh

I really liked the finish line buddies at the North Olympic Marathon. When I crossed the line, the buddy met me, put the medal over my head, handed me an opened bottle of juice, asked me if I needed anything, walked me to get the chip removed, checked to see if I had a bag to pick up, took me to the cookie stand and generally just stayed with me for about ten minutes before letting me leave the finish area and even then made sure I knew where the food was. Then he went back to pick up the next runner coming through. Now I realize this isn't reasonable for most races but when I compare it to the one before that it was amazing. The one before that I crossed the line, was given a medal and a bottle of water that had been sitting in the sun and was then ignored. I had to find my own way to get the chip removed and there was no food left.

I like the numbers above the chute to be very small. Smaller the better. I had a complaint about our local 5K and they actually fixed it last year. (7K people) Worked pretty well. They just made a really large area for finishers and made you walk to get your medal and chip before exiting the area and it gave you plenty of room to walk around for a minute. Previously they had chip people within 15 feet of the finish and people were stopping before the mat when there are people trying to come in at a 6 minute pace.